Staten Island's 20th Annual Day of the Dead isn't about scaring - it's about caring

AWE in print ... (dancer photo by Irma Bohorquez-Geisler) 'The 20th Annual Staten Island
El Dia de los Muertos Celebration'
Made possible by the NY State Institute on
Disability, NY State Council on the Arts,
Council on the Arts & Humanities for S.I.,
Con Edison, Gov. Andrew Cuomo
& the NY State Legislature.

STATEN ISLAND, NY — Those dancing skeletons and black-eyed skulls have become so ubiquitous in American pop culture, it's easy to forget these symbols have nothing to do with our horrifying, sugar-coma-inducing Halloween traditions.

No. El Dia de los Meurtos (The Day of the Dead) isn't about scaring — it's about caring.

"It is a joyful Mexican tradition — a time for families to gather and welcome the souls of deceased love ones who, it is believed, return to visit the living," says Irma Bohórquez-Geisler, who is marking two decades as founding executive director of Staten Island's "El Día de los Muertos Celebration," which returns Sunday to Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden in Livingston.

"On this day, Mexican families and the larger Staten Island community come together," Bohórquez-Geisler says, "to remember departed loved ones and celebrate their lives, with flowers, art, altars, live music and dances."

S.I.'s day-long fiesta launches at 10 a.m. with the construction and decoration of two ofrendas (altars) to honor the dead. Party people are welcome to bring photographs of deceased loved ones, objects that once belonged to them, as well as their favorite drink, food or flower. Those aforementioned skeletons and skulls made of sugar, ceramics, and papier-maiché are also part of the memorial.

AWE in print ...DESIGNED BY MARY GARRISON

A second ofrenda will be constructed displaying regional traditions from the Mexican state of Guerrero (Confused? Don't worry. Organizers will be on hand to explain the holiday's customs).

Port Richmond's Rita Contreras, who attended last year's celebration to honor her father, placed his favorite food, chile poblano, next to a framed photo of him on the ofrenda.

"This is my tradition to come here and celebrate my family," she said. "We remember our loved ones on this day more than any other day of the year."

Plus, a Mariachi band and musicians performing traditional Son Jarocho — a blend of indigenous Indian, African, and Spanish sounds that originated on the Gulf of Mexico, southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca — will provide the live soundtrack. A variety of traditional dances will also be performed, including

"Native American peoples have long seen death as one transition in a continuum," Bohórquez-Geisler says. "For centuries, the Aztec, Toltec and Maya buried their dead in earthenware pots full of food and jewelry so the person would have all that they might need in their next life."

The Mexican people believe the gates of heavens are opened at midnight on Oct. 31, and for 24 hours angelitos (spirits of deceased children) are allowed to rejoin their families.

El Día de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico on Nov. 1 and 2. The modern celebration, which Geisler points out is very expensive for many families, will be authentically recreated this weekend at Snug Harbor.

Bohórquez-Geisler's driving motivation for introducing her adopted borough to this beloved custom: "The belief that the more we know about each other's cultures, the stronger we become as a community."